The Haunting Hunter
by Creature of Grimm
Summary: Jaune's family were lost when he was young to a Grimm attack that wiped out his entire village, resulting in his Aura and Semblance being unlocked and leaving him the sole survivor. 8 years later Rumours of a Ghost haunting a failed settlement draw the attention of a certain Golden eyed Fire Mistress.
1. Grey World

**So, this is my first fic…please be honest. I want to know what people think, and constructive criticism is more than welcome.**

 **For those of you that didn't bother reading my Profile (** I don't blame you I don't think most people ever do with any **) I am dyslexic. So, there is more than likely a few mistakes I miss while Proof Reading.** Spellcheck **is only so effective. I rely on it a lot but can sometimes still pick the wrong word or it might not even pick up a mistake.**

 **You have been warned.**

 **Flames on the other hand will be ignored and depending on how stupid they are might even make me laugh. I have seen some of the flames people write and to be honest they tend to come off as more childish and pathetic then intimidating most of the time.**

 **I always liked reading Jaune centric fics simple because he is one of those characters that can be so easily changed in both small and large ways. Most stories or movies or whatever have at least one and it is always interesting to see how people change them. So I decided to do my own ;)**

 **Couldn't find any mention of where Jaune grew up, so I am making up the name of a town.**

 **Also, this fic is rated M for a reason. There will be some dark themes, you have been warned.**

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 **Summary:** Jaune's family were lost when he was young to a Grimm attack that wiped out his entire village, resulting in his Aura and Semblance being unlocked and leaving him the sole survivor. 8 years later Rumours of a Ghost haunting a failed settlement draw the attention of a certain Golden eyed fire Mistress.

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 **Disclaimer:** I do not own RWBY

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Chapter 1- Grey World

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 **Jaune (7 years old)**

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The world was burning. The air was full of smoke and the sound of screaming. People were running around, hiding, and in a few rare cases even trying to fight back against the monsters. But it was all for nothing. They couldn't escape. The walls that had been built to protect them was now trapping them, cutting off their escape.

The village was nothing more than a giant death trap.

Jaune watched it all with tears in his eyes as people carless abandoned others to the Grimm, some even heartless enough to _throw_ others into their path for a chance to escape themselves. It was survival of the fittest, and in the end Humans weren't the fittest but the most selfish.

Jaune's family were gone.

Their home had been at the edge of the wall, right next to were the breach where the Grimm had broken through. His mother and father had enough time to grab their weapons, only to be overrun. His oldest sister had push them out the door while they distracted the Grimm.

At some point Jaune had gotten separated from his sisters and found himself in the centre of town. hiding under the statue of his grandfather as it so happens. He was crying, though as quietly as possible to avoid being noticed by the Grimm, and curled up into as small a ball as possible.

As he watched the people of the town running over each other to get away, people Jaune knew his whole life and before the Breach seemed so nice a caring, he was reminded of what his Grandfather use to tell him.

Grandfather Arc was a strong, famous Hunter that fought in the Great War. Because of this he had experience fighting both Creatures of Grimm and Humans. Despite everything Grandfather Arc didn't hate the Grimm, at least that was what he told Jaune. The Creatures of Grimm were what they were. They were predators and Humans were their pray. You can't blame wolves or sharks for killing things to eat, animals simple went on instincts and a Grimm's instincts told them to kill humans.

They weren't monsters, they were animals ruled by instinct.

Grandfather Arc said that the true monsters were not Grimm, but people. Humans were self-aware and able to comprehend their actions, they knew better yet still didn't learn. He had seen terrible things during the War, things that not even Grimm would do. When a Grimm killed you it was mostly quick and clean, efficient. Humans were capable of unimaginable cruelty.

With Grimm, you knew what you were facing, people tended to hide what they really were until they stabbed you in the back.

Jaune had never really understood what his Grandfather meant until now, as he watched a mother throw her own toddler into a charging Bear Grimm and run in the other direction while her child's screams where suddenly cut off.

Unable to watch it anymore Jaune lowered his face to his knees and clamped his hands over his ears to block out the sounds, shaking but still letting only quiet whimpers out.

Unfortunately, he was soon discovered.

Jaune didn't know why, but something told him he needed to move. Trusting this feeling he got up and jumped from the statue just as something knocked the top half of his Grandfather's body off, leaving just the waist down. The top half sailed over his head and crashed into a building nearby that was already on fire, the impact causing it to finally give up and collapse in on itself.

Spinning around Jaune quickly found the culprit…and knew he was about to die.

Standing only a few feet from him was a very large, very angry looking Grimm that he had never even heard of before. It stood at least 13 feet tall and maybe 8 feet wide at the shoulders. Two powerful bull like legs with hooves that cracked the ground with every step, a human like torso bulging with muscle and…a head that looked like a cross between a human and a goat. It had a oddly human shaped mask, with a long beard that fell to its stomach. Long black hair almost like a lion's main around its neck and two 5 foot long goat horns on its head curling in on themselves. The glowing red eyes glaring down at him filled with wild hate and hunger.

Jaune didn't even come up to its knees.

Like most Creatures of Grimm, it was covered in white bone like armour and glowing red markings. Unlike most Grimm the Armour had scars all over, showing that it had been in and survived many battles. Every breath leaving its mouth gave off a hot cloud of air and the smell was so strong when it reached Jaune it almost made him gag.

His body was trembling so much that when he tried to step back he tripped.

He caught sight of several people hiding nearby, watching him and the giant Grimm. He held out a shaking had towards them. "H-help…please help me" he begged, but no one made any move to help him.

More tears falling from his eyes, Jaune turned back to the Grimm as it started slowly walking towards him. Each step it took shook the ground and cracked the stone underfoot so much that even when he tried to get back up he was knocked back down.

He could feel a scream building in his chest as it got closer, so large it was painful and as the Grimm lifted one of its large hands in preparation to crush him Jaune finally let it out and closed his eyes tight waiting for the pain.

Only for it to never come.

Alone with the scream something else burst out of his chest, and suddenly the world around him changed. When the pain never came Jaune slowly opened his eyes, only for them to widen in shock and confusion.

Everything was in black and white and unfocused around the edges like it was made of smoke. Sounds, while still there, were muted and slightly distorted. Like listening to something though water. He was lying in a crater and flinched when he saw the giant hand of the Grimm that was about to kill him slowly moving away. In fact, everything was moving slowly, and blurring with after images following them. Even the fires burning around him had slowed, and the people and Grimm even while seeming to run moved at a snail's pace.

Jaune watched as the Goat Grimm thing looked down at him, only to not actually see him and start to walk away. Right towards him.

Panicking Jaune tried to back away so he wouldn't get stepped on, but the Grimm's strides were a lot larger than his even if moving in slow motion. However right as it looked like he was going to get stepped on…the Grimm walked right through him as if he wasn't even there.

Eyes wide Jaune looked from the Grimm as it made its way to find more victims, to himself and his own grey body. However, unlike everything else around him while he was grey Jaune wasn't burry around the ideas and his moments didn't leave trails in the air. He was also moving at a normal speed unlike everything else.

Other Grimm were following in the wake of what Jaune suspected was the Leader of the Breach. His Grandfather used to say that all Breaches had one. A Grimm that stood out from the rest, more powerful then the norm. They followed in its wake and picked off anyone that it missed or didn't bother to kill as it passed.

Like the Leader none of them seemed to see him, and when a Bear Grimm come close Jaune reached out to touch it only for his hand to pass straight through. It was like they were made of smoke, he could feel a little resistance, but it was nothing more than a slight cold breeze pressing against his skin.

A Wolf Grimm passed through him without Jaune even noticing it was close until he felt it moving through him.

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 **Jaune (next morning)**

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For what felt like a life time with everything moving in slow motion as it was, Jaune watched through the night as the Grimm continued to rip through the village and kill everyone in sight. With the sounds around him muted he didn't hear most of the screaming anymore unless it was nearby. He didn't wonder further then the town centre though, sitting next to what was left of his Grandfather's statue while the odd person would be slowly chased through by a Grimm.

The only reason he realised that it was day was the sky changing from black to white and the way things turned a lighter shade. Jaune never realised how important colours were or how much he would miss them until now.

By the time the sun was high in the sky the only ones left in the village were Jaune and a few Grimm that didn't bother to leave. All the humans were dead though, other than Jaune. He would have cried, but he had run out of tears through the night and just didn't have any left now.

Then the Bulkhead arrived. Larger than any he had ever seen before, it cast a massive shadow over half the village and came to a stop right above him. He watched as several people in body armour and helmets jumped down attached to wires and pulled guns from their hips. The few Grimm remaining charged them, but were cut down with ease by a hail of Dust bullets.

Jaune was surprised to note that when the bullets hit their targets there was a flash of colour, different depending on what kind of Dust was used.

When the last of the Grimm was dealt with the Bulkhead lowered to the point it was almost on the ground and a platform opened under it and lowered the rest of the way. Jaune didn't even feel the wind that must have been generated by the engines so close to the ground.

Stood on the platform were two men.

The first was a young, stern looking man that seemed to be in his late twenties to early thirties. He was muscular, with a strong jaw and broad shoulders. Because of everything being in black and white Jaune couldn't see any colours, but it looked like he was wearing a white military uniform. The man stood very straight and had a frown on his face as he looked around, though even Jaune could see the sad look in his eyes.

The other man however didn't have that look.

Like the first he was well built and dressed in uniform, however his had many medals attached to it. he was older, his hair showing up very grey with only a few strands of black. He also had a thick moustache that followed his jaw and connected with his sideburns. Attached at the man's hip was a sword with an ornate handle. His face was set in a hard, calculative expression, his eyes moving over the ruined village with cold indifference.

The two men stepped off the platform, the older first with the younger man following a step behind. The older man gave a hand gesture and seemed to say something that Jaune couldn't make out, and the armoured men started spreading out around the village.

Curios when he saw the two men staying where they were Jaune moved forward and noticed they were talking. Frowning when he realised he couldn't hear them, only for his eyes to widen when the world seemed to start speeding back up to normal and sound started to reach with clearly.

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 **Ironwood**

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James Ironwood had a reputation as a hard, cold person with little feelings. A man that thought in cold hard facts and cared little for others.

This was not true.

While he may come off as such to most, those that knew him best knew that James cared almost too much. That was why he built up walls to distance himself. It had been one of the main reasons he had been moved up in the Atlas Military so quickly and was now the Youngest Specialist in history and next in line for General when the current one retired.

However, no walls he could build were thick enough to hide the pain he felt as he looked at the blood-stained streets of the Village of Draco. While the fires had died down by the time they arrived there was still smoke in the air, and the smell of _death_ was chokingly thick.

Swallowing the bile that tried to crawl up his throat, James turned to General Stone and frowned slightly. He did not like the man. Stone was a great leader, but he was as cold and unfeeling as his namesake. While James up put an air of indifference and emotionlessness, Stone was those things and more.

James was careful to hide his distaste for the man before speaking, clearing his throat to get the General's attention. "It seems there were no survivor's sir, the Grimm wiped out the whole village." He said.

The General didn't turn to look at him. "Indeed." was the short reply, eyes still roaming over the burnt-out buildings around them.

James was hard pressed to keep the frown off his face. "If I may speak freely, sir?" he asked.

This time the General did turn to look at him, eyes hard and calculating. "Granted, Specialist Ironwood." He said with a short nod.

James took a deep breath to calm his anger before speaking, hands clenched behind his back. "Why did you order us to wait when the alert came through in the night? Why did you stop me from bring a platoon to try and save the people of this village?" he asked quickly, not trusting his voice if he didn't to stay calm.

If he was offended by the accusations in the questions, Stone didn't show it and once again turned away to continue his inspection of the town. "You are still young and inexperienced Ironwood, so I would not expect you to understand. But I will endeavour to educate you." He said.

"To put it simple, the Atlas Military has neither the time nor patients to save every little village that does not reside within our walls. We do not have the resources to care for the survivors either. These people left the safety of Atlas and its walls, we are under no obligation to save them from their own stupidity at the risk of our own." Stone explained coldly.

James felt his hands shaking behind his back and grit his teeth. He couldn't hide the emotion in his next words. "These were people, General Stone. What right do we have to leave them to die?" he asked.

Stone still didn't turn to look at him. "We didn't kill them Specialist Ironwood, the Grimm and their own stupidity did. In time, you will learn, when you one day replace me." He answered.

Losing his temper completely at this point James was about to shout at the man when suddenly he felt the air around them going cold. Freezing in place James' eyes started darting around for the source, hand slowly moving to the gun sitting at his lower back. He didn't miss the way Stone was reaching for his sword either.

Then he saw something out of the corner of his eyes and in a second he had his Revolver and had it aimed with his finger on the trigger. Only for his eyes to widen in shock and almost drop it a moment later when he saw what he was pointing it at.

Standing only a few feet away from him was a child. Small, with torn cloths and slightly spiky hair. However, it wasn't a normal child. Its entire body was in black and white and seemed to be blurred around the edges. From the body shape, he could tell it was a boy, but for some reason he couldn't see his face clearly, only his eyes. James felt his heart clench at the pair of blue, glowing eyes staring at him. He could see the accusation in them, the silent question of why he had let everyone die.

James' hand started to shake at what could only be the ghost of a child killed in the Breach staring at him as if he had killed him himself. The air was getting colder by the second the longer he looked at the ghost and James saw his breath misting in front of him.

Then he noticed Stone standing next to him was having much the same reaction, only worse. The old General was pale as a sheet and staring at the boy with wide, fearful eyes. The sword held out in front of him was shacking so much he eventually dropped it and started backing away. The man seemed to be terrified beyond rational thought.

Then he spoke, in a quiet voice that echoed and seemed to come from several places at once. " **Why?** " he questioned.

James couldn't answer.

The ghost boy took a step forward, his form seemed to get blurrier as he did and James took one back. " **Why?** " he questioned again, louder this time.

James flinched but still couldn't answer.

However, this only seemed to anger the ghost as he took another step forward. " **WWWWHHHHYYYY!** " the air shook as the ghost practically wailed the question this time, so loud James dropped his gun and held his hands over his ears in pain.

He watched as the Ghost shot towards him, almost completely losing form, and instinctively jumped out of its path. Rolling as he landed and getting back to his feet in a crouch James turned just in time to see General Stone frozen where he stood. The Ghost charged right through him and disappeared without seeming to do any damage. However, a second later the General fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut and curled into a ball shaking.

Looking around for any sign of the ghost, James quickly ran over and grabbed his Revolver where he dropped it before kneeling next to Stone. The man seemed fine physically but was muttering to himself and was deathly pale.

Bringing the cuff of his right left sleeve to his mouth James spoke into the communicator inside it. "All units abandon search and return to Drop Point, General Stone is down. I repeat abandon search and return to Drop Point." He said firmly, trying to hide the shack in his own voice as he continued to look around for any sign of the ghost child.

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 **End of chapter**

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 **So what do you think?**

 **This seemed like a good point to end it but normally chapters will be longer. I am hoping to keep them at a minimum of 5000 per chapter though I can't promise anything.**

Jaune's Semblance

Hope you like Jaune's Semblance.

Basically, he can take himself 'out of sync' with the rest of the world, like a ghost. He cannot be seen, heard, or touched and can even slow down time to an extent in his own little world. He can force himself to a point where others can see him, like you see in this chapter, making him look like a ghost. Though you don't see it in this chapter he will also be able to walk through walls.

However, he cannot hurt or even touch people while using his Semblance. His presence will have small effects on the world around him, like the air getting colder. He also has the whole Ghost Scream thing he did at the end which will he like what the Nuckelavee (apparently, that is the name of the Grimm that attacked Ren's village) can use.

He did not actually do anything to Stone, (OC I made up, don't know the name of the General before Ironwood) the man simple couldn't handle what he was seeing a lost his shit. The most he felt when Jaune passed throw him was the same that Jaune felt when something passed through him. A little sensation like a cold breeze.

Basically, Jaune's Semblance turns him into a ghost. While using it, nothing can hurt him (? ;), but he can't hurt anyone either.

He can however use it to basically get into anywhere he wants (? ;), and move faster than most people (Ruby of Couse being the exception) to get into a better potion before turning it off.

Can also, as you see in this chapter, use it to scare the hell out of people ;)

 **Anyway, I hope you liked it, at least those of you that would bother to read the first story of a new author.**

 **Please let me know in a review.**


	2. Solitude

**Ok, so I will admit I wasn't expecting so many people to be bothered about reading this. So thank you to everyone that have Reviewed, Favourited and Alerted it.**

 **Sorry it took so long, between work and re watching RWBY to refresh my memory time got away from me. I also ended up getting about half way though this chapter only to realise I didn't like it and start again.**

 **Obviously, there is a time skip in this chapter from the last. Thought about doing a chapter with several small skips but in the end decided not to.**

 **Cinder is only a year older than Jaune in this fic. Not sure what her age is in cannon but here she is only one year older.**

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 **Disclaimer:** I do not own RWBY

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Chapter 2- Solitude

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 **Jaune (8 Years later)**

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Jaune glanced up from his book as the Beowolf passed by less than three feet from where he sat. He was in his usual spot at the foot of what had once been his Grandfathers statue, the world around him faded into shades of grey. The Grimm showed no sign that it knew he was there as it sniffed the air.

The village looked the same as it did ever since the attack 8 years ago, though there were now vines crawling up the ruined buildings and clumps of grass were breaking though the paths and roads. There was a little wear and tear too from weather but Jaune thought it added character.

Like the numerous weapons littering the ground around him, some broken beyond repeat, some stabbed into the ground and others rusted to the point it was impossible to tell what was what anymore. Swords, spears, guns, shields, hammers and every other kind of weapon. Some even counted as two, since they changed into other weapons.

They belonged to the numerous bandits and Huntsmen that had come pocking around over the last few years. Jaune could scare most of them all off easy enough, showing up in Ghost Form only to disappear and show up repeatedly seemed to freak people out. Many dropped their weapons in their scramble to run away and Jaune didn't move most.

The few that had a backbone took a little more…convincing, to leave. While he couldn't hurt anyone while in Ghost Form he could appear right behind them and shoot someone in the back of the head at close range before they realised he was even there. The bodies would be cleaned up by passing Grimm within a day or so.

The only other change to the area was the large, full length mirror standing in a wooden frame in front of his Grandfather's statue. It had a few creaks in it, but was mostly undamaged.

He just wanted to be left alone. People…Faunus…Grimm, Jaune hated them all. He had seen what both people and Grimm were capable of and wanted nothing to do with either. So he chased them away when they came snooping around his home, and killed those that didn't leave when he warned them. Sometimes when it was a large group, normally bandits looking for an easy salvage or a place to set up a base, he would kill one or two just to be sure before chasing the others off.

He hadn't seen many people in the last year or so though. Other than the odd team of Huntsmen showing up from time to time. It seemed that word was finally getting around about staying away.

The yeas had been both good and bad for Jaune.

At 15 years old, Jaune was in the best physical condition possible, brought about from a mixture of surviving on his own and living off what he had been able to scavenge from the village or hunt. He had been able to last the first three years on the food left behind by the villagers, at least what didn't go off such as canned and dried food. Luckily many people had shelters built into their homes stocked with food he could take.

Unfortunately, they had never made it to them when the Grimm attack in middle of the night, some dying right at the entrance.

When that had run out of that, Jaune had started to ventured outside the village to hunt with a longbow one Huntress had…left behind. It was nearly as long as Jaune was tall, grey in colour and made from a light metal with foot long blades on both ends. It could also fold up and fit in the brown leather quiver with the arrows.

He also had a pair of guns on his hips. The handles were long and shaped like a rifle, with two short but wide barrels that fired Dust bullets strong enough to cut through Aura like it was paper at close rand. They could fire 6 times each before needing to be reloaded. Also taken from a visitor, only this time a bandit. They were the length of his forearms and were red and black in colour.

He had been able to find cloths that fit him as he grew too, like the white tank top with black jeans he had on now. Jaune also had a hooded dark grey cloak that covered his entire body and a lighter grey scarf that he used to cover the lower half of his face. It added to the scare factor when he used his Semblance.

After the Breach, after learning how to turn off his Semblance so he could touch things of course, Jaune started looking through what was left of his parent's library. Being a Hunter and Huntress they had several books on things such as Aura and Semblance that he could read. It helped explain a lot of things that were happening to him at the time.

Jaune spent years practicing and leaning everything he could about his Semblance, that from what he had read was something never seen before. While most Semblance were unique, barring the rare hereditary ones of course, many of the more common ones such as strength, speed and basic element manipulation had a common thread that made it possible to teach the basics of how to use them.

He was completely on his own when it came to finding the limits of what he could do.

One of the first, and most important, things Jaune had learned was that even when invisible he still had a reflection. It was the first and only time Jaune could see what he looked like to other people while using his Semblance. Grey, with glowing blue eyes and blurry features. His body looked like it was made of smoke and even the slightest movement would make him lose form.

It worked very well to scare people, which was why he moved the large full length mirror into the centre of the village. The look on people's faces when they saw a ghostly grey figure standing right behind them looking over their shoulder was amusing. Though it took a while to learn how not to brake them when he used his Scream.

He could walk through walls like they weren't even there too, the only feeling he got was a slight resistance but it was barely noticeable.

Another thing he learned was that his presence had little effects on the world around him when using it too. The air would get colder and in some cases frost would even appear around him. Grass would turn yellow and flowers wilt as he passed.

Then there was his Scream. Along with being loud enough to bring people to their knees, it also effected machines. If he focused Jaune could short circuit things like high tech weapons, making them spark and jam. One guy had been bunt to a crisp when his bazooka like weapon jammed and exploded when he tried to use it.

It was the only offensive move he had while using his Full Semblance and it didn't work if the weapons weren't overly complex like many people seemed to like to use.

But perhaps the most interesting ability that Jaune's Semblance gave him was the fact he could feel and take strength from other people's fear. He hadn't realised it at first, but after scaring away a few groups of Huntsmen and bandits Jaune noticed he would get a sort of adrenalin boost. He could feel their fear and it made him stronger…faster. Even while not using his Semblance the effects were still in place.

The effects would fade a lot given time but not completely.

After realising this little ability, Jaune had started to take advantage of it to make himself stronger. When people came snooping around, he scared them. He put on a show, drank up their fear like a fine wine, before sending them on their way. Any fear would do, but when they feared him it was the sweetest, and it gave him the largest boost.

The only real problem Jaune had was that despite everything, his Semblance was not made for direct offense.

He had tried to kill some Bandits with arrows once while using his Semblance but they passed straight through them without doing anything. They had turned solid again when he stopped using his Semblance though. Even Dust bullets didn't work the same, though they did show up as colours instead of grey. Things like Fire Dust was little more than a warm breeze while using his Semblance.

If he wanted to attack, Jaune needed to be solid…vulnerable. While using his Full Semblance Jaune couldn't be touched or hurt, but he couldn't do any damage either. This made it so Jaune couldn't rely completely on his Semblance and still had to train his body and skills. Even the boost he got from feeding off of fear was only physical, it was useless if he couldn't control his body and apply it properly.

He spent months practicing with his chosen weapons, pushing his body to its limits, and learning everything his parent's books had to teach him.

Sighing as he closed his book, Jaune stood up and stepped closer so he was standing next to the Grimm. With the book still tucked under his arm he slowly pulled the Shotgun from his right hip and held it next to the Beowulf's head.

Turning solid, Jaune quickly pulled the trigger. The Grimm's head exploded with a loud ' **Bang!** ' and before the body dropped to the ground Jaune was already back in his world and moving to retake his seat as if nothing happened.

About an hour later Jaune was surprised to hear footsteps on the broken stone road coming towards him.

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 **Cinder**

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Cinder's eyes narrowed as she watched from a distance as the infamous 'Ghost of Draco' killed the Beowolf she had sent into the ruined village even as a small smirk spread across her lips.

She was crouched on a hill overlooking the village from a fair distance away to avoid being seen, a pair of high powered binoculars in hand. Her newly acquired…friend, Emerald at her side with a pair of her own. They had been watching the village for three days waiting to catch a glimpse of the ghost with no luck. So, Cinder decided to try her had at 'fishing', and sent in her bait and see what would bite.

Over the last 8 years there had been many rumours about the failed village. Huntsmen and Bandits alike avoid the once lively settlement for fear of crossing the path of the mysterious 'Ghost'. In the early years after the village was destroyed it was believed that the ghost was a small boy, one of many that had died when the Grimm swept through. Small with large, glowing blue eyes and a face that could never be clearly seen. It was said the ghost looked like a fuzzy black and white photo.

However, over the year the description had changed slight, as if the 'ghost boy' was still ageing.

Of course, in the beginning many had scoffed at the notion, laughing about the absurdity of it.

Over the years, Huntsmen had been sent to investigate the village. It was standard practice for the Four Kingdoms to try and learn from the mistakes of the past and improve their own defensives if needed from the ruins of failed settlements. Not to mention the bandits that had tried to make it their base or just search for anything of value left behind.

All of them had run screaming, at least those that lived, to tell how they had been chased away by the ghost. He would appear out of thin air, with the only warning the sudden drop of temperature and their breath misting in front of them. Sometimes he would speak a single word, telling them to leave and usually they would. However, the few that refused were met with anger and violence.

Cinder had been able to get her hands on a few video recordings of the survivors being debriefed.

They would talk about how the ghost would start to become even less clear before letting lose a spine chilling scream or shout so loud it had even ruptured a few people's eardrums. Those that had High-Tech weapons would be shocked to suddenly be forced to abandon them when they would start to spark and malfunction dangerously. Some even exploded.

For the few brave, or stupid, enough to still not run things would only get worse. The ghost would appear and disappear at random, seemingly instantaneously. Nothing could hurt it, not blades, fists or even Dust. The ghost would walk through it all as if nothing had happened.

Then a few years ago, it started using weapons, and things got a lot more interesting. From the earlier reports the ghost had started using a bow and arrow, but in the beginning, they seemed to be as effective against people as theirs against him. The arrows would pass through people without harming them, and the only thing felt was a cold sensation where a wound would have been.

This did not last long however.

The ghost was apparently evolving…or leaning.

The death toll shot up sharply after that, and the bandits stopped trying to take the village. Eventually even the Huntsmen declared the area too dangerous to be explored and set up a 'No Go Warning' on the village.

However, the last group to have been sent, a four-man team from Mistral that was reduced to a single Huntress after their encounter, had gotten a recording of the of the ghost. Most of the data had been lost, but one frame had been salvaged. Except it wasn't a ghost in the picture.

The quality was grainy as the camera had been damaged, but it clearly showed a grey cloaked boy with his lower face covered by a scarf holding a type of shotgun to the head of a Hunter right before the trigger was pulled. The photo had never made it into official hands and the Huntress had been in no condition after losing her team and surviving the attack to talk about what had happened and what she had seen. Apparently, the ghost had chased her for two miles outside the village until she got away on the waiting bullhead that was supposed to be for her entire team.

But Cinder had found image while researching the ghost, and it confirmed what she already thought.

The Ghost of Draco was no ghost, but a human. A human with a very…interesting Semblance that would be of use to her.

Her Mistress wanted Cinder to find other young, talented, and most importantly, useful teens like herself and lead them. At first Cinder, had been against the idea, even if she would never dare to question Salem. Was she not good enough? Not strong enough? Had Cinder not proven herself to her Mistress repeatedly? It had made her question her own abilities.

Until she met Emerald and realised how useful others could be to her plans. Emerald's Semblance was very useful, and the girl was not without other skills. With Cinder's guidance, she would be strong, even if never as strong as Cinder herself. Emerald's Semblance and skills opened doors for Cinder that she would not have been able to open on her own.

That had been when she understood the wisdom in her Mistress' order to find other exceptional people like her. It wasn't about Cinder not being strong enough, it was about being more diverse in abilities and resources.

With this understanding Cinder had taken to her task with new vigour.

However, it wasn't as easy as she had hoped. Cider had truly lucked out when she stumbled onto Emerald. The girl was a one in a million find and she had just stumbled into her on the street. Cinder would only allow herself to associate with the best, even if all they had at first was the potential that she could cultivate into something strong.

That was when she started following rumours in the hope of finding something. Unfortunately, most were worthless and led to nothing. Then she stumbled on the rumours of the Ghost of Draco and started looking more closely where others seemed afraid to look.

But it was the picture that finally confirmed her beliefs, but it wasn't the end.

Cinder was smart, methodical, and patient in her research. Then after…acquiring a few old, seemingly unimportant files from an Atlas Archive she struck gold. The original report made by the future General James Ironwood himself while he was still a Specialist. The file had been buried deep and purposely forgotten, the people involved payed off to keep them quiet, but she had found it.

As irritating as Watts could be, he had his uses. Getting her those files had cost her and he would be smug and gloating about it for a while, but it was worth it.

It was the file that spoke of the _first_ appearance of the Ghost of Draco, mere hours after the village had fallen. It was laughable to read when you saw the stern man now compared to the one that he had been when writing this report. But the most interesting thing she had found was the fact that the village of Draco had been left to its fate by the order of the former General Stone.

That right there was valuable information.

It was this incident that had led to the former Generals 'retirement' and supposed mental breakdown.

It was information she could and fully intended to use.

Cinder was brought out of her thought by Emerald talking. The confusion in her voice clear. "So, the guy's Semblance is what exactly? Invisibility? I still don't get why you want him to join us." The green haired teen said.

Cinder smirked at how she sounded like her before she came across Emerald and realised the error of her ways.

"My dear sweet Emerald, if it was something as simple as turning invisible I would not have bothered to come all the way out here. And despite your reluctance to except it, you are not enough for my plans alone." Cinder said in a calm, sultry voice. Her words always sounded like they had been dipped in honey, and there was a confidence in them that made men and women alike weak in the knees.

Emerald only frowned slightly. "Whatever…so are we going down there now? My back is killing me after sleeping on the ground while we waited for him to show up and I need a bath to get rid of all this dirt." She said irritably.

Cinder's smirk only grew. "Yes…I think we have waited long enough. Let us go and meet the 'Ghost of Draco', shall we?"

Without another word, Cinder dropped her binoculars on the ground and stood up, taking a moment to stretch and straighten her dress before starting forward. She didn't wait for Emerald, who was taking longer to get the kinks out of her body. The girl quickly caught up.

Her glass heels gave off their usual ' _click, click_ ' as the ground changed from grass to stone when they entered the village. The once strong gate designed to keep out the Creatures of Grimm had been destroyed in the breach and had rotted away in the years that passed since so they could walk in without a problem.

Cinder walked with confidence, her steps short as she navigated the ruined streets of the village and made her way to the centre. Emerald was never more then a step behind her, eyes flicking around and hands inches away from the Sickles on her hips.

It was almost enough to make her chuckle.

While Emerald had her strengths, Cinder knew she wouldn't stand a chance against the Ghost. Her Semblance required her to be able to _see_ the person she was influencing, and keep them in her line of sight to keep control. While skilled in combat even without her Semblance the Ghost reportedly couldn't be touched and attacks would simple pass straight through him without harm.

Though Cinder had a theory about this that she was probably going to need to put to the test in this meeting. The Ghost had a reputation after all.

They soon arrived at what had once been the centre of the village, the warn remains of the statue that had once stood proudly casting a long shadow between them as Emerald moved to the side slightly. Cinder didn't deviate and walked straight up to the mirror, golden eyes glowing slightly as she examined it with a critical eye. She didn't so much flinch when eyes moved slightly to the left and saw the ghostly grey figure standing right behind her in the reflection.

Giving a glance over her shoulder and confirming that she could not see anyone there, Cinder looked directly into the glowing blue eyes in the mirror and smirked. "Hello there, pleasure to finally meet you. Though I don't know your name I have heard so much about you." She said in a conversationally tone, and saw the way his eyes narrowed.

" **LeAvE** "

The voice echoed around her slightly, and had an almost physical sharpness to it as the tone changed several times at once. Yet at the same time she could feel the air on her left getting colder by the second. She saw Emerald watching from a 'safe' distance to her right in the reflection, hands on Sickles and just waiting for her signal to use them. Not that they would do any good against something that couldn't be touched.

Smirk still in place, Cinder acted as if she didn't hear the warning and carried on talking. "I must admit I am impressed with what you've done with the place. The abandoned weapons are a nice touch, they add character. You have an impressive collection too, so much verity. My name his Cinder by the way, may I ask for yours?" Cinder said before introducing herself, voice as charming and sweet as ever.

It didn't seem to be working on the Ghost however.

" **LEAVE!** "

Cinder could feel and see her hair move this time from the power in the voice. Could feel the slight pules as the vibrations moved through the air.

"What the hell!" shouted Emerald in surprise.

Her attention was momentary taken from the mirror and moved to the green haired teen. Emerald had drawn her Sickles at the Ghosts shout, only to drop them instantly when they started sparking. It was just like the reports claimed, High-Tech weapons were useless and broke the moment the Ghost seemed to get angry.

They had been given a warning, then the shout had been the warning shot. Next would come the violence and that was what she was waiting for as she turned back to the mirror. Only to see confused eyes staring back at her.

The ghost was staring at her intently, head tilted slightly to the side.

" **YoUr NoT AfRaiD…** "

Cinder blinked slowly, but didn't show any of her surprise on her face. The Ghost never spoke more than a single word, many two, but _never_ a sentence.

Mind quickly running through possibilities and plans at the turn of events, Cinder quickly composed herself and carried on as if nothing was different. "Should I be afraid? Do you want me to be afraid of you?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest and leaning her chin on her left hand.

In response to her questions the Ghost became visible and moved around to stand in front of Cinder between her and the mirror, his form losing shape for a moment as he moved. " **Everyone is afraid.** " He said, voice losing the sharpness but still echoing.

Emerald let out a slight squeak at his sudden appearance and stepped forward as if to protect her, but froze when the Ghost's attention moved to her and his eyes flashed brighter. " **She is afraid.** " He said.

Emerald seemed to take offense to his words however, glaring at the Ghost as she moved to stand next to Cinder. "Afraid of you? Don't make me laugh. Who would be afraid of a few little tricks like this. Your nothing impressive." She claimed offhandedly.

A sound filled the air that Cinder had trouble identifying at first, but after a moment realised it was the distorted sound of the Ghost laughing, the echo in its voice making it bounce off the building around them. " **You can't lie to me…I can taste your fear. I can feel it, filling me up. You are afraid, and no amount of blustering can hide it from me.** " Said the Ghost.

It then turned its eyes back to her, ignoring Emerald for the moment even as the girl grit her teeth in anger. " **But you…you are not afraid. I can't feed from you.** " He said, clearly confused.

Cinder made a note of that to ask about it later. It seemed the Ghost was full of surprises.

Holding out her hand to Emerald the girl quickly pulled out a file from behind her back and place it in her hand. Cinder then stepped forward and held it out to the Ghost with her seemingly permanent smirk in place.

" **What is this?** " He asked, looking from the file to her face but making no move to take it.

Cinder's arm didn't falter in the slightest and her smirk only grew as her eyes glowed gold. "This is a file, with the names of everyone involved in delaying the Atlas Military from coming to the aid of Draco when the Grimm breached your wall 8 years ago. There are 7 to be exact. A few Councilmen, some high-ranking officials and of course the current location of the driving force behind it…Former General Edward Stone." Explained Cinder.

At her words the Ghosts eyes were firmly fixed on the file now, glowing brighter than ever before as frost slowly started to form on the ground around his feet as the temperature dropped further. Cinder saw Emerald visibly shaking from the cold, running her hands up and down her arms to try and warm herself up.

There was a silence for a few moments as the Ghost continued to stare at the file she was holding out to him.

0o0

 **Jaune**

0o0

At the girl's words Jaune felt the world spin around him as his mind raced. He had been curios about the girl ever since he realised she had no fear inside her for him to feed off, and that curiosity had made him hesitate and talk to someone other than himself for the first time in 8 years. It didn't hurt that she was stunningly beautiful. All curves, sexy smirk and sultry voice packed into a skin-tight dress. Jaune was still a teenager after all, he had hormones like everyone else.

Then there were her eyes. Jaune could see the colour of her eyes even while using his Full Semblance. They glowed a brilliant gold, shining with power. Jaune had met very few people that had any colour while using his Semblance. From what he had learned it was a sign of power, it was a sign that she had a lot of Aura.

The last person he had met that had eyes that held colour like that had been the Huntress from the last group to come snooping around, and she had been able to catch glimpses of him even when he should have been invisible to her. It had saved her life, and allowed her to avoid him long enough to run away.

This girl was dangerous.

Her friend didn't hold much interest for him though. While she put up a good front Jaune could still taste her fear. She was no different than most of the people he had met over the years. While impressive that she could hide her fear behind anger, she didn't have the same presence as the girl in front of him.

That file contained everything he needed to find the people responsible for his family's deaths, the people that had left his village to the mercy of the Grimm. It was tempting…very tempting.

If he was facing anyone else Jaune would have just killed them both and taken the file, but something told him that would not work with this girl. He could see it in her eyes, she was smart. She had planned this, which meant she had would have planned for his reaction. Werther her plans would work or not was a mystery through, but for some reason Jaune found himself hesitating to take the risk. They were in a mental chess match, and Jaune was at a disadvantage, he knew nothing about her yet from the way she spoke she Cinder knew about him.

Finally coming to a decision, Jaune did something he had never done before. He stopped his Semblance, allowing himself to become vulnerable in font of someone and not attempt to kill them.

Without a word Jaune reached for the file, only for Cinder to tighten her grip and pull it away, holding it to her chest. "Now don't get ahead of yourself…nothing is given for free as I am sure you know." She taughtened him.

Jaune's hand slowly fell back to his side. "What do you want?" He asked, voice hard and eyes glaring into hers.

Cinder actually _smiled_ at him this time instead of smirking. It was small and Jaune didn't trust it, but it made her already beautiful face even more attractive. "Now don't be like that, I think you will actually like my offer once you hear it." She said.

Jaune didn't say anything in response, just motioning for her to get on with it.

The smirk was back now. "It involves showing the world the true face of Atlas, and bringing the Four Kingdoms to their knees…" She said before once again holding the file out to Jaune.

Looking from the file to Cinder's face several times, Jaune's eyes started glowing again as he smirked under his scarf.

"Tell me more…"

0o0

 **End of Chapter**

0o0

 **So, I hope you all liked the chapter. Sorry there wasn't much action in it but I promise there will be…eventually. Not sure when but it will pick up. Also, hope you like the added details of Jaune's Semblance.**

 **Like I said before to stop him being OP he can't actually hurt people while using his Full Semblance, but is still going to be on Cinder's level of power. Believe me when I say trying not to make him OP and on her level, is not easy, as I am sure people familiar with the RWBY show will know.**

 **For those who aren't sure the end of this chapter is set between the time when Cinder Recruits Emerald and goes looking for Mercury's father. However, I also set it two years before the main RWBY story starts so I would have a few things to work with. Cinder will be using Jaune and his ability to its fullest to further her goals and she still needs to meet Mercury, Roman and so on.**

 **I think it would be fun write those senses with the addition of 'Ghost Jaune' to add to her intimidation. ;)**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think, and I will try and get the next chapter done as soon as I can.**


	3. Revenge

**Another amazing response from the last chapter, so thank you to all that read it and reviewed.**

 **I am really sorry for how long it has taken for me to update this. I have no real excuse other than life getting in the why.**

 **Between my Uncle on my dad's side dying after about five years of Dementia and my Aunt on my mum's side dyeing of terminal cancer a few weeks ago it has not been easy to write for a while. I have also recently moved to another country and am basically living with my uncle (whose wife just died). This is partly because he travels a lot and needed someone to look after his house and dogs while he is away, but also because no one wanted him to be alone after what happened.**

 **Hopefully you understand.**

 **A few people seemed concerned that Jaune didn't know that Cinder wanted to use him. Bear in mind that Jaune has had little to no human contact for 8 years other than to chase away and kill them. So, in a realistic sense, he had no idea how to read people other than fear.**

 **However even if he did Jaune just doesn't care. At this point in the fic Jaune just wants to see the world burn, especially Atlas. If he will stay like this or not throughout the fic is yet to be seen. After all he might reconsider later, you will just have to keep reading to find out ;)**

 **Cinder used the information about the people responsible for letting his village die as incentive before baiting him with the basic goal of her plans. At the moment Cinder will only think of him as a tool, like she does everyone else. After all she didn't even see the point of looking for others to help with her plan until she found Emerald and saw how useful she could be. Give her time and she might even start to think of them as friends, even if just useful friends.**

 **As for the pairing, there are a few different possibilities but in the end he will choose between one of two girls. It will be a single paring through, not a harem, and I will not confirm until later which girl Jaune will end up with. Partly because I don't know yet either ;). However, you could say the two also represent the two paths Jaune might take.**

 **The first is of course Cinder. The other will be either Pyrrha, Blake or Yang. Jaune will still be going to Beacon. The reason it will be one of these three is because for one thing I can't think of any reason it could be Nora, her and Ren are just too close, and their relationship is too funny. Ruby is a little too young and innocent, especially for this Jaune. As for Weiss, well one thing is that too be honest I'm not a fan of Jaune/Weiss pairing. It's just my personal opinion, I don't mean to step on anyone's toes or anything.**

 **Also, for those that commented on the fact Jaune doesn't seem to get tired from using his Semblance. Jaune has naturally high Aura levels, so while he can get tied eventually it would take a fair bit to do so. For example, the longer he slows down time in his world would eat away at his reserves, flickering between the two worlds would also wear him down. Things like that.**

 **Finally, to clear up a little confusion. When Jaune refers to using his 'Full Semblance', he means when he is completely invisible to the naked eye. Jaune's Semblance can be split into three levels.**

 **The first is his ability to feed off Fear. This can be used even while in solid form, so in a way it is his lowest form. With this he feeds off others fear to make himself stronger, fast, Etc. Second is when he is intangible, but people can see him, though he appears Ghost like. While like this he cannot slow down time around him but his presence has a stronger effect on the world, such as ice forming around him. The third and final level is when he is completely invisible and can slow down time in his world.**

 **Yes, Jaune's Semblance is overpowered. However, it's balanced by the fact he can't actually hurt people while using level 2 or 3.**

 **Really sorry for the Long AN, just needed to get a few things cleared up.**

 **Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. :)**

0o0

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own RWBY

0o0

Chapter 3- Revenge

0o0

 **Jaune**

0o0

Jaune hadn't been inside a Bullhead since he was five years old and his family took a trip to Mistral. It had not been a good experience for him, or anyone else for that matter. He had been _violently_ airsick…the people that owned the Bullhead they used had not been happy and charged his parents the cleaning cost. Jaune hadn't stepped foot inside a moving Bullhead since.

Until now that is…and it turns out time does not cure Motion Sickness. It does however make it a lot worse.

Though she didn't tell him everything about her plans Jaune had joined Cinder and Emerald. The idea of screwing over Atlas and the other Kingdoms was more than tempting enough to get him to agree. While he hated most people and the Four Kingdoms, Jaune hated Atlas the most. They had left them to die. They left his _family_ to die.

So, he agreed to follow Cinder…for now.

Jaune was under no illusion unlike Emerald, the irony of this did not escape him after he was told what the green haired teen's Semblance did. He did not trust Cinder. To the dark-haired girl both Jaune and Emerald were little more than tools, things that she could use to further her own goals. She cared nothing for either of them. But Jaune didn't care about that. He didn't want to be their friend, he wanted to watch the world burn.

No, more than that. He wanted to watch the world burn while sat on the rubble and ashes of Atlas.

She could think of him as a tool for her to use as much as she wanted, in the end Jaune thought of her in the same way. She was a means, and the end was Atlas and the other Kingdoms being burned to the ground.

Emerald from what he had seen so far of the girl was clueless to this however. She idolised Cinder and seemed to carve her praise. If Cinder told Emerald to jump the girl wouldn't even bother to ask how high.

"Seriously, after all we went through to find this guy he can't even handle a little Motion Sickness? Lame!" She was also a cocky little shit that seemed to take Jaune's mere presence as an insult to her own usefulness to Cinder.

Looking up from the bag in his hands, face paler then usual with a slight green tinge to it and scarf pulled down so his mouth was free, Jaune glared at the teen where she sat across from him. "I am-Blurr!...going to shoot you when we land. I-Blurr-bluuurr…swear to Monty." Jaune threatened, having to stop ever few seconds to be sick again.

Jaune wished he could use his Semblance and just let himself fade out of sync with the world, but he had never used it while on a Bullhead before. His presence might make something short circuit, and there was the possibility that he would just fall through the floor if he didn't concentrate. It wasn't worth the risk until he was sure how his Semblance would be effected.

Cinder, who was flying the Bullhead, seemed to care very little for their arguing, but did comment. "Now, now children, play nice." She called over her shoulder without looking at them.

Whatever Emerald had been about to say died before leaving her mouth at Cinder's words. Jaune was tempted to comment but his attention was taken when he started being sick again.

Jaune hated flying.

Eventually they came to a stop, though Jaune didn't dare look out the window while they had still been moving and had no idea where they were. The moment they were low enough Jaune jumped out and crouched on the ground with his head between his knees.

Taking a few deep breaths to ease his stomach a little more, Jaune turned around to see Emerald jumping down too before tuning to Cinder as she made to follow and without a word pulled the shotgun from his right hip and fired. The loud ' **bang!** ' echoed in the air around them and was followed by several curses aimed at Jaune as he returned the weapon it its holster with a flip.

"You little shit! You just shot me in the arse!" Emerald screamed, one hand holding her left cheek that Jaune had just shot as she fell to her knees while the other went to one of her Sickles. Apparently, she had a spar set waiting on the Bullhead after he had broken the ones she had brought with her to Draco.

Jaune turned his back to the raging girl and shrugged. "I told you I would shoot you when we landed. And it was a normal, non-Dust round so there is no way it could pierce your aura. Stop being such a baby." Jaune replied, only to activate his Semblance a moment later to avoid the shot emerald had aimed at the back of his head.

He only had it on for a second as the bullet passed through where his head would have been before flickering back into the real world again and looked over his shoulder at her with a raised eyebrow.

Emerald was still glaring at him but didn't move to fire another shot. "It still hurts arsehole. Even if it didn't get passed my Aura I'll still bruise." She said.

Before Jaune could reply Cinder spoke again, her mask of indifference slipping slightly now in irritation. "Will the two of you please stop. Your acting like children…" she said, before glancing at their weapons. "Heavily armed children, but still children." She corrected.

Jaune just scoffed and turned away from them. "I haven't spoken more than a few words to other people in 8 years, forgive me oh great and stuck up one if my social skills are somewhat lacking. Though I don't know what her excuse is." Jaune said sarcastically, nodding his head in Emerald's direction at the end.

Jaune wasn't sure if Emerald was more pissed off that he was insulting her, or being rude to Cinder. Seriously what was this girl's problem? Cinder however didn't seem to care about his comment, at least outwardly anyway.

Shrugging, Jaune finally took the time to look around.

They had landed inside a large, steel walled warehouse, with no windows and a roof that was slowly closing after having opened to let the Bullhead inside. It was completely empty apart from the Bullhead in the middle of the room and had a thick layer of dust covering the floor and walls. The Bullhead had cleared a circle of the dust around it though and he could see the solid concreate floor underneath.

Though it was muted Jaune could also hear sounds outside, sounds he hadn't heard in 8 years. They were in a village, or maybe a city? It was probably the later of the two, villages didn't have such large empty warehouses just sitting unused like this.

Frowning as his eyes narrowed, Jaune turned to Cinder as she approached him, ignoring Emerald and the glare she was sending him. "Where are we?" he asked.

The answer did not help his mood as Cinder, who was still holding on to the file from before, smirked at him. "Why in Atlas of course, we have business to attend to. Well, you do at least." She said.

Jaune didn't like being here, the only thing he wanted from Atlas was for it to burn. "What kind of…business?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Instead of answering Cinder opened the file and flicked through it until she came to the page she wanted and held it up for Jaune to see. In the top left corner was a picture of a familiar face, one that made Jaune's blood boil and fists clench at his sides.

General Stone.

Cinder showed no sign of noticing his reaction. "The former General is being kept in a heavily guarded Military controlled facility inside Atlas. Said facility is under 24-hour Guard and is home to several ex-military that 'couldn't cope with the stress of the job'. Because of his former position and the fact he was privy to a lot of sensitive information, the General is kept in the lowest, most secure area of the facility." Explained Cinder.

Jaune's eyes never left the picture of the man that ruined his life as she spoke. He also didn't miss where this was going. "Your testing me…using Stone as both the test and reward…" Jaune started, there was no question in it, he knew exactly what Cinder wanted.

0o0

 **Cinder**

0o0

Cinder couldn't help but smile when he figured out what she had planned. Jaune Arc was smarter then she would have thought after being alone since he was a child. That was good, she had no use for incompetent idiots that couldn't use their heads. She needed Generals, not foot-soldiers. At least for now.

He was exceeding her expectations.

Cinder put the file back in the folder. "Very astute of you, Jaune. Yes, I want to see just what you are truly capable of and this seems like a good way to test your usefulness to me in the future. No one has ever been able to break in and or out of this facility, and believe me people have tried. I want you to get in, do what you will with the former General, and then get back out." She explained.

Jaune seemed to take a moment to think over her words slowly, turning them over in his head several times before turning his back to her and moving towards the door. "Fine, I'll play your little game, Cinder…for now." He tossed over his shoulder as he walked away.

Cinder didn't see any reason to comment and simply smirked before following him, Emerald quickly falling into step behind her.

She didn't want to miss a moment of what was about to happen

0o0

 **Jaune**

0o0

When he first stepped outside the warehouse, Jaune was immediately overwelled. Thousands of people, so many different sounds and smells, everything was just too much. Most of the city of Atlas seemed to be made up of impossibly tall, blindingly white skyscrapers that more than lived up to their name. The few patches of sky not occupied with towers were covered by Bullheads and airships of all shapes and sizes. The sound and feel of humanity was everywhere in the city, filling every inch of space protected by its large walls.

Jaune hated it.

The people were pushy and loud, and the skyscrapers were so tall it gave him a headache looking up at them. Four people had bumped into him and started insulting him in the last 10 minutes alone before backing away when he glared at them, his eyes glowing slightly and scarf pulled up over his lower face. He could taste the pollution in the air around him, which was so much thicker and chocking then what he was used to.

Jaune just wanted to take his shotguns and start reducing the population, maybe then no one would bump into him and he could get some peace. But he didn't. Jaune followed Cinder and Emerald, his head high and eyes locked forward. The crowd seemed to be splitting before the Raven-haired beauty, who didn't slow her pace for a second yet never had anyone get within three feet of her.

Realizing this Jaune made sure to stay close to her so he wasn't jostled as much, forcing emerald to back away as he took her place. He ignored Emeralds glare as he passed her, even going as far as to bump his shoulder into her when she tried to move into his path and stop his advance. His larger form was enough to make her stumble and almost fall, but he didn't take the time to notice.

Jaune didn't hate Emerald, if anything he pitied the girl. She was so devoted to Cider she didn't even realised she was just a tool, a valuable tool with many uses maybe, but still a tool. She also seemed more than a little territorial, but Jaune had no interest in playing her game.

If Cinder noticed that he took Emeralds usual place in her shadow, she didn't comment on it or even glance in their direction.

Jaune fully expected at some point, once she had a better idea of what he could do Cinder would take the time to 'show him his place', which she clearly thought was below her. Jaune had every intention of proving her wrong and would be watching her just as closely as she watched him.

They soon came to a stop at a fenced off building that unlike most building in Atlas wasn't a skyscraper, though it was still white. It looked to only be two stories high but quite wide with a domed roof. The fence surrounding it was ten feet high and had barbed wire at the top, and with only a glance Jaune counted 24 armed guards wondering the perimeter.

Holding out his hand to the fence but not touching it, Jaune could feel the hairs on his arm standing on end from the electric current running through it.

That could be a problem.

Jaune didn't have much experience with Lightening Dust, it wasn't normally used in ammo since it would require a lot to be more than a stun effect against a Grimm. However, he had encountered it once or twice. Bullets made with it were as useless as any other against him, but a constant, steady current was a different story. A bandit with a cattle prod like weapon had surprised him once he jabbed it into his chest and Jaune was forced out of Ghost form.

It was only for a second as the moment his connect to the prod was broken he had regained his control but Jaune had always been a little cautious of the Dust since. He had also made sure to kill all the bandits that day, so he was the only one to know about the weakness.

He didn't take his eyes off the building as Cinder started talking. "Most of the facility is underground, of course, what we are looking at is only the top two floors. The masses believe it a simple weapons warehouse for the military, so of course they never ask too many questions about why it is so heavily guarded. Stone is held on the lowest floor, 48 floors down. The only way down is a single elevator, which has at least two guards at each floor and one inside. This is the place Atlas sends people to 'disappear', at least the one's they can't just kill anyway." Explained Cinder, before turning to look at Jaune and folded her arms over her chest. "Don't keep us waiting too long, and be sure to have fun. This is my present to you after all." She added, almost as an afterthought.

Without a word Jaune turned around and walked away from the fence to find somewhere out of sight to flicker out while Cinder and Emerald moved to find a nice vantage point to wait return. Though before leaving Cinder passed him a piece of paper with direction to a hotel and the room number they would be waiting for him in.

One advantage to a city Jaune would grudgingly admit was that there were plenty of alleyways and out of sight little spots he could use to disappear without being seen doing so. It took less than five minutes to find one and Jaune was already making his way back to the fence. He could see the slight glow it gave off in his world, the light blue colure it held despite everything else being black and white confirmed his suspicion that it was powered by Lightning Dust.

A lot of it if he was to guess from how strong the glow was.

Stopping in front of the fence Jaune slowly lifted his hand and inched it closer to the fence. He could feel the prickle from the power running though it and hesitated for a moment. Frowning, he took a deep breath and let a single finger touch the metal.

Only to flinch and pulled it away and fell to his knees. In the moment he had been in contact with the electrified mental his world had flickered around him as he struggled to keep himself in it. To anyone watching they would see the fence spark and the misty grey form of Jaune flickering in and out of sight in front of it.

Getting back to his feet with a grunt as he regained control and slipped back into his world, Jaune watched for a moment as several guards came to investigate the spark where he touched the fence.

With a frown Jaune slowed down time and started slowly walking around the perimeter of the fence looking for a way in.

Eventually he came to the entrance of the building. A metal pole blocked it to stop cars getting in without permission and had at least twenty armed guards stood around watching everything that moved. None of them noticed as he stepped under the pole and walked in.

0o0

 **Cinder**

0o0

They had claimed a room at a hotel that overlooked the base. It was several blocks away but like most of the buildings in Atlas even the hotels were skyscrapers. Cinder had…requested, this room specifically because they could see the base even if she needed binoculars.

Emerald was lazing on the large bed flicking though a magazine while Cinder sat in a chair by the window.

Her eyes narrowed and quickly moved to the spark she saw at the fence, only to raise an eyebrow when Jaune's form flickered in and out. Cinder quickly took note of how he was on his knees and seemed to be in pain before seeming to recover quickly and disappear again.

A dark smirk slowly spread across her lips as she brought down her binoculars and lay them in her lap. It seemed the 'Ghost' wasn't as invulnerable as he seemed.

Turning away from the window Cinder moved her attention to the file on her lap.

It seems Atlas had been _very_ naughty. There was a lot more going on with the village of Draco then she would have first assumed before getting this file. It turns out the actual reason it had been left to its fate was because the, at the time, General Stone had taken a bribe from Jacques Schnee.

The wealthy businessman had been after a plot of land owned by the Arc Family, but they had refused to sell it to him. Angry at being refused Jacques had put things into motion, bribing different people. Then the Breach happened, and he saw an opportunity to speed up his plans. If the Breach hadn't happened a large Bandit camp was set to attack anyway.

Less than a week after Draco fell Jacques had brought the land and it was now one of the biggest mining sites owned by the Schnee.

Cinder was saving that bit of information for later.

She knew that if he really wanted to Jaune could take the file from her. There was nowhere she could leave it he couldn't get, and even if there was his current loyalty would be put at risk if she held out too long or too tightly.

So long as she gave him regular jobs connected with the people responsible for his family's deaths he would be kept happy though.

"I still don't get what the big deal is with this guy Cinder, and he's an arse!" came Emeralds voice behind her, breaking Cinder from her thoughts.

Her eye narrowing in annoyance at the girls continued whining Cinder took her gold eyes away from the compound and turned to look at her first tool over her shoulder. "And that is why you disappoint me, Emerald." She said, getting a visible flinch in response as she shot up into a sitting position on the bed.

Not waiting for her response Cinder continued. "You are allowing your jealousy to cloud your mind, making you short sighted. That boy can make himself untouchable, a ghost. He can walk through walls, move around unseen or heard…he could walk into your room while you sleep without you ever knowing and shoot you in the head and walk out." She explained.

She didn't miss the way Emerald had been getting increasingly pale as she spoke, her hands starting to shake even though they were in her lap and eyes a little wider than usual. It seems the girl was finally starting to understand. "Then there is this other ability that I had not know about, a new factor." She continued, more to herself then Emerald now as she turned back to the window.

"'You can't lie to me…I can taste your fear. I can feel it, filling me up', that is what he said. It is well documented that some Semblance take strength from emotion, even if it is usually the users own. But if he really can draw strength by feeding on the fear of others…it could be a game changer..." She almost whispered, trailing off into her thoughts at the end as the possibilities and potential ran though her head.

Semblances that drew power from the user's emotions could be weak one moment and strong the next. But those that took power from _another_ person's emotions however…

Deciding not to overthink it for now, Cinder shook the thoughts from her head and turned to glance back at Emerald again. "He is even more useful than I first anticipated, and I will need to adjust my plans to better utilise him…as of this moment Emerald, he is more useful to me then you yourself. Something you should remember in the future." Cinder explained coldly, ignoring the very visible flinch her words caused and the hurt expression on the girl's face.

Deciding to ignore the girl for now she turned back to the window.

Cinder's attention was suddenly taken again when she saw a car pull up to the gates of the hidden compound. Frowning as she lifted the binoculars to her eyes again her eyes widened slightly when she saw the last person she would have expected stepping out of the car.

This was going to be interesting…

0o0

 **Jaune**

0o0

After getting passed the electrified fence Jaune had little trouble getting inside. In fact, the only problem he had was finding the elevator Cinder had told him led to the lower floors where they kept their 'patients'. But even then, it was only a minor inconvenience to someone who could walk through walls.

After about 20 minutes of wondering around he found the elevator, two armed guards stood in front of it just like she told him. Jaune didn't even spare them a glance and he walked forward and leaned his head though the metal doors and saw the empty shaft.

It was dark inside with the doors closed and no lights, but the blonde ghost was just able to make out the outline of a ladder leading down into the pitch-black hole. It was on the opposite side to the doors he was leaning through, a gap of about 6 or 7 feet.

Pulling his head out of the doors, Jaune took serval steps back before running straight through and jumping to the other side of the shaft. If he wasn't using his Semblance, Jaune's landing as he grabs the ladder would have surly made enough noise to alert the guards on the other side of the doors. Luckily while he was able to grab hold of the ladder, provided he concentrated, his landing made no sound.

While using his Semblance Jaune couldn't touch things that he didn't bring with him into the Grey World. Everything was like dense smoke, some gave a little resistance but that was it and he would still pass though them. However, after years of practice, Jaune learned to touch some things while using it. He couldn't move them, and it didn't work on animals, Grimm, or people, but Jaune was able to climb things like ladders so long as he concentrated.

His decent was slow. The dark made it hard for Jaune to see the rigs of the ladder, so he needed to take his time and find his footing.

Jaune had stopped slowing down time in the Grey world after he got inside the base to preserve his Aura, so when a light suddenly came on below him and started move straight up at high speed he had no time to react. Eye widening in surprise as the high-speed elevator came shooting towards him, Jaune lost his concentration on the ladder.

The rigs in his hands and under his feet turned to smoke and Jaune was suddenly falling. He got a brief flash if the inside to the elevator as he passed through, but it was moving too fast for him to see more then the guard inside before he fell through the bottom.

Cursing himself for losing his concentration Jaune reached out with his right hand towards the ladder. His hand passed through the rigs several times like they weren't there, which in a way was true, but he was able to focus grab hold of the ladder again. The sudden stop jerked his arms at the shoulder slightly, but it was nothing he couldn't ignore.

Letting out a sigh Jaune quickly found his footing again before looking down to see how far he still had to go. Only to blink when his eyes landed on the floor three feet below and the metal doors across from him.

He had fallen almost all the way to the bottom of the elevator shaft…

0o0

Finding Stone's room was a lot easier than finding the elevator had been. The entire floor was just one long, white hallway with doors on either side and numbers next to each. Each door had a small window that allowed you to look inside at the white padded room on the other side of it. Most he passed we empty, but a few had men or women inside curled up in balls with straight-jackets on.

Stones room was number 35.

Jaune stood outside the door looking into the room at the man inside.

Stone looked nothing like the smart, imposing man that had condemned his village all those years ago. He was thin as a scarecrow, something that Jaune could see even with the straight-jacket on. His eyes were wide and sunken into his head, dark rinds around them. Most of his face was covered in messy white hair, his once perfectly groom moustache lost in the shaggy beard and the little amount of skin visible under it was pale.

Stone was sat with his back leaning against the wall opposite the door, muttering to himself incoherently and rocking back and forth slightly. Jaune couldn't help but take a little satisfaction at the sight of the man in such a miserable state.

His eyes hardening, Jaune concentrated and let himself become visible to the world around him as he slipped into Level 2 of his Semblance. He was able to see his ghostly form reflected on the glass in front of him as a thin layer of frost started to creep over it.

Stone's head shoot up, his eyes widening in terror as Jaune stepped though the door. To the broken ex-General he must have looked like a vengeful spirit, and in a way, he was.

Quickly scrambling to his foot Stone moved to the corner of the padded room furthest away from Jaune as he slowly stepped into the middle of the room, his back pressed as deep into the paddled white wall as he could. Jaune could hear him muttering to himself. "No…no…no…you're not real...YOUR NOT REAL! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" Stone stated screaming historically, drawl falling from his mouth and tears in his eyes.

Jaune said nothing to the man, his hand moving to take the gun on his right hip.

Stone didn't stop. "IT'S WASN'T MY FAULT! I WAS WEAK! I DIDN'T KILL YOU! I DIDN'T KILL ANY OF THEM! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" He continued to scream and rant.

Jaune wasn't even listening to the man's words anymore as he slowly brought his shotgun up and aimed it at the man's face.

"NO! NO! IT WASN'T MY FA-!"

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**_ _Click. Click. Click…click…click…click…_

Jaune was panting, his teeth grit as he glared at the body in front of him. His first shot had killed Stone instantly, his head exploding and leaving little more then a blood stain on the wall behind him. But it hadn't been enough, Jaune had emptied his gun into the man's chest and turned it to pulp as he continued to glare.

Even after running out off ammo his finger continued to pull the trigger several times before slowly stopping, his arm falling limp at his side.

He had done it…he killed him…he killed Stone…

Jaune closed his eyes for a moment and let out a small sigh as a sense of peace overcame him and silent rears trailed down his face. However, the moment was ruined when the door behind him was suddenly throne open.

Turning around, Jaune's eye's widened when he saw pale, shocked face of Ironwood standing in the doorway. His eyes were as wide as Jaune's, and in his hand pointed right at Jaune's currently solid face was a large handgun.

0o0

 **I hope you like it, again sorry it's took me so long to finish the chapter.**

 **It was going to be a little longer with Ironwood's perspective at the end, but I thought this was a good place to end it and the next chapter will start with that. It gives me something to start with and follow from that.**

 **Also in regards to the other possible Pairing for Jaune, there is a Poll on my Profile. I will not guaranty that the winner will be the other Love interest, but I want to get an idea of what people think so please go vote.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you thought :)**


	4. Haunted Past

**As a treat/apology, here is the next chapter.**

 **So, a lot of mixed feeling about the second paring option here, though about what I expected. I admit my first thought had been Pyrrha, but I also admit it's not my favourite. It is also done too often. I like Pyrrha as a character and yes, sometimes even Arkos, but it really is done way too often, and it gets a little boring after a while.**

 **But I will see how the poll goes, there will be a few more chapters before it gets to the point I need to worry about it for now.**

 **Also someone pointed out I a review that it seemed a little rushed that Cinder found out about Jaune's weakness to Electrical currents. I will admit after reading it I agree it dose seem a little rushed, but it's there now and I don't want to go back and rewrite it just because. However just because she knows about it doesn't mean she had Jaune are going to be going head to head any time soon. Cinder is too cautious for that.**

 **While she might have been prepared to fight him in their first meeting it was more because she assumed that was the only option she had. He is also turning out to be more powerful then she thought he would be, so she will be carful to avoid a fight until she knows she will win. Even if she doesn't admit it to herself.**

 **Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. :)**

0o0

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own RWBY

0o0

Chapter 4- Haunted Past

0o0

 **Ironwood**

0o0

James Ironwood couldn't stop his lips falling into a slight frown as he walked towards the elevator that would take him to the lower levels of the facility. More specifically, the lowest level. The level where his former superior had been for almost 8 years.

James hated coming here, hated seeing Stone. But it was something he forced himself to do. At least once every three months since he was promoted to General, he came here and looked in at Stone through the little glass window into his paddled cell. He did this to remind himself of what happened that day. To remind himself to _never_ be like Stone, to _never_ forget the village that he had been ordered to leave to the no existent mercy of the Grimm.

To remind himself of the little boy he had seen and the question he had asked.

Why…

Why did Stone order him and his men to hold back? Why did James listen to the order? Why hadn't he ignored it like his conscience told him to at the time? Why hadn't he questioned General tone until after it was too late?

The entire event was hushed up, the reports 'lost' in the bureaucracy and forgotten. A public notice had been issued announcing the Breach at Draco and that there had been no survivors. General Stone had been removed from duty due to 'Stress'.

James hadn't missed the fact that they were trying to cover up what happened but at the time had no way of stopping it and even though he did now know nothing would come from making it public knowledge.

It wasn't until months after the incident that James realised that there was no such thing as ghosts and that what he had seen was more likely a very alive little boy with a strange Semblance. He had let his guilt consume him at the time as his mind had simple jumped to conclusions.

When he realised this James had ordered a search party to return to the Village of Draco, though under the guise of looking for any indication of what had caused the Breach. At the time he had been newly promoted to General following the former general Stones descent into madness and didn't want people to think he was following in the man's spiral.

At the time he had been unable to go to the village himself, still wasn't. James couldn't bring himself to look over the village, or into the eyes of the little boy.

The search had been unsuccessful. The men he sent didn't find the boy. Though James had not missed the flinch and twitch's they gave while delivering their report. He knew from this that they had seen him, and like James had only seen a ghost but didn't dare say anything for fear of being thought insane.

Over the years James had sent other teams, both soldier's and Huntsmen. But none had ever reported finding the boy and were always haunted by what they saw. Then things had changed, and the Ghost of Draco had started killing those that went to the ruins of the village.

He couldn't condone sending people anymore after that and had reluctantly stopped.

James still had nightmares of glowing blue eyes staring at him in accusation.

General James Ironwood would never be like General Stone, and he would never allow the past to repeat itself under his watch.

Letting out a small sigh as he stepped into the elevator when he arrived, Ironwood glanced at the woman that moved to stand next to him.

Winter Schnee was a young, driven woman. He had recently chosen her as his right-hand woman, much like he had once been the right-hand man of General Stone. She was young, skilled, efficient, and willing to learn.

All of these were good qualities that he had been looking for in a second, but there was one more thing that made her stand out from the other candidates he had considered. She did not follow his orders blindly. If she did not like or understand his orders Winter would, while politely, question them and ask for his reasoning. This was something James had never done to General Stone until it was too late, and it was something he wished he had.

That was why he chose her. Learning from past mistakes James wanted someone that, while would follow order's, wound not follow them blindly. It had only been two weeks since she had been promoted and already James wasn't sure how he had survived without her. She made his job a lot easier and while he didn't trust her 100% yet, he was stating to.

That was why he was bringing he with him now. He had told her the true events of what happened all those years ago and now was going to show her why it as so important for her to never blindly follow his orders.

She had not take it well, but Winter was nothing if not professional. She had listened as he told hr how the Atlas Military had purposely allowed a village full of people die. He told her of the 'ghost' that had appeared before him and Stone, and the former General's guilt sending him mad.

They said nothing as the elevator quickly moved down. The lowest floor was the only floor that didn't have guards on the elevator. The people who were kept there, few as they may be, held information too sensitive to risk some passing guard hearing muttered. Even the guard that would usually be stationed in the elevator stayed behind on the top floor.

James felt his right hand shaking at his side but couldn't stop it.

The moment the elevator stopped, and the doors opened, James felt a cold shiver run down his spin and he flinched.

"IT'S WASN'T MY FAULT! I WAS WEAK! I DIDN'T KILL YOU! I DIDN'T KILL ANY OF THEM! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

He recognised the hysterical scream. It wasn't the first time he had heard it.

Closing his eyes James shook his head slightly. It wasn't going to be a nice visit if Stone was already screaming before he saw James, not that it would have been anyway. The man always broke down when he saw him.

However, what he heard next made his eyes snap open wide in shock.

"NO! NO! IT WASN'T MY FA-!"

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

There was a moment of silence following the sound of gunshots, both James himself and Winter standing like statues.

The moment didn't last.

James leapt from the elevator and sprinted down the corridor, drawing his gun as he ran. Winter was following behind him, but she wasn't as fast as he was and started falling a little behind. He didn't even stop when he reached the room he knew Stone was held and rammed his shoulder into the door, almost taking it off it's hinges in the process.

He took in the sight before him in less then a second even as his gun moved to the grey clad figure before him, standing over what was once General Stone but was now a mutilated corpse full of bullet holes and missing its head entirely.

James heard Winter arriving behind him, but she didn't entre the room and stayed to ensure the door was covered.

He was about to speak when the figure in front of him turned around, seemingly in slow motion, and in that moment, James felt the blood drain from his face and his heat skip a beat. His lower face was covered by a scarf, but his eyes were visible and what terrified the usually composed General.

They were the eyes from his nightmares, blue and glowing, full of accusation as they recognised him. The gun in his had suddenly felt several tines heavier than it should, and his arm started to shake. In the back of his mind James noted that he had grown, no longer the little boy but a man now. Young, probably still a teenager, but a man. A man with a short barrel shotgun in one hand that still had a little smoke escaping from the end as evidence that it had been recently fired multiple time in quick succession.

For 5 seconds neither of them moved, both just staring at the other. James with terrified eyes and pale face, him with eyes quickly being clouded with cold anger.

He hesitated. James hesitated to brake the silent standoff, and that was his undoing.

Before he could react the Ghost, he didn't have any other name to use for the boy, spun while closing the small distance between them. James arm was caught under the boy's as his back hit his chest and jerked the arm away, the suddenness of the action causing him to pull the trigger on instinct and wasteing the bullet as it hit the wall and left a large hole in the roof.

As concreate dust fell over them the boy twisted again and turned James around by his arm, pinning it behind his back as he lost grip of his weapon. The strength the boy had was unreal, he was manhandling James despite the man being several times large like it was nothing. However, the sharp pain in his shoulder when it was twisted knocked James out of his shock.

Ironwood bent forward at the waist, causing Ghost to lose his balance, along with his gib on James' arm. The man then spun around and aimed a high kick with his right foot at the boy's chest. It connected but felt like he had kicked a steel plated door. The boy didn't even move, just took the kick before bringing his arm down on his knee.

 _Creak!_

"AAHHH!" James let out a pained cry as his knee bent the wrong way and he felt the bone snap. His Aura failing to hold against the impossible strength Ghost had.

He felt to the floor at the boy's feet, unable to dodge the kick that followed. It hit him on the right side of his chest with enough force to send the large General straight up into the roof and leave a dent in the concrete before falling back down. Once again, his Aura was unable to stand against the power behind the attack, and James suddenly found it a little harder to breath as his ribs punctured his right lung.

It was then that Winter came in, charging the boy with her rapier-like sword, leaping over him. Her aim looked to be true as through teary eyes James saw the sword running through the Ghost chest, and for a moment he thought it was over. Until Winter's hand followed her swords through his chest, followed by the rest of her body.

It was then that he saw the Ghost's body looked smoky around the edges and where Winter had passed through him. Because of his grey closed it had been almost impossible to tell the difference at first, but now he looked just like the Ghost he had appeared as all those year ago, only older.

Winter, unbalance when she had been met with no resistance and passed through his body, had fallen to the ground behind the ghostly figure and was staring at his back in shock.

Then Ghost Screamed.

" _ **aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**_ "

The roof and wall behind the padding started to crack, the ground shacking and the lights flickered and threatened to die as the scream got louder the longer it continued. James grabbed the sides of his head to cover his ears, but it did little to quite the sound as he yet out his own paid scream. Lights overhead in both the room and the corridor outside exploded, a shower of sparks falling around him.

He felt something wet in his hands but couldn't take them away from his ears to see what it was. He could see Winter on the ground across from him, her own hands covering her ears and face screwed up in agony as blood started to escape between her fingers from her ears.

James wasn't sure when it finally stopped, mostly because his ears continued to ring long after Ghost fell silent. His vision was blurry from the pain, his head felt it had been hit with a sledgehammer several times from the inside and his leg and chest were on fire.

He could just make out the still form of Winter, the young girl having passed out. Twin rivers of blood were slowly leaking from the corners of her eyes and another two from her eyes. The room was dark except for a flashing red light from out in the hallway, and as his hearing slowly came back he could hear a siren going off somewhere.

Cougher violently, james ignored the blood that came from his mouth and with a lot of effort and pain, turned over so he was on his back. only for his eyes to widen when he Ghost standing above him, staring down at him with James own gun pointed at him.

His breath came in wheezing pants and were each accompanied by blood from his punctured lung. He couldn't feel the pain from his leg anymore, but that wasn't very reassuring and was more a concern than comfort. Yet still, James could do nothing but stare up into the cold blue eyes as they judged him.

0o0

 **Jaune**

0o0

Ironwood was so terrified of him, it made their short exchange so easy. The man was so petrified by the sight of him that Jaune felt it filling him up, his Aura was overflowing and his body stronger then ever. He had only ever felt like this when he fed from entire groups of people at the same time. His eyes _shone_ from the power flowing through him as he threw the man around like a ragdoll, he hadn't even felt the kick that connect with his chest.

The bone in Ironwoods leg was shattered to splinters under the power of his strike, and the right side of his chest looked lopsided compered to the left where he had kicked it. The wheezing pants and blood told him the man's lung had collapsed. With so much strength flowing though him powered by the man's fear of him Ironwood's Aura had been little more than a second layoff of skin against his attacks and buckled under the force.

Blood was leaking from his ears and eyes from burst blood vessels and ruptured eardrums. But unlike his bones they were only small injuries that his Aura would be able to heal in minutes.

The girl barely registered to him, he had simple flickered out and let her pass though him. She hadn't even been able to handle his scream. Though, with just how powerful it had been it was more a surprise that Ironwood was still conscious.

He had found the gun on the floor and picked it up without thinking, his had moving to point it at the man as he slowly rolled himself over onto his back.

Jaune blamed Ironwood, thought not like he had Stone.

Stone was the reason his family was dead, he had ordered his men to hold back. But Ironwood, the good little soldier he was, had followed the order. He didn't even question it until after an entire village was dead, didn't have the nerve to speak out against an order he thought was wrong.

Stone was just as much responsible for the destruction of Draco as the Grimm that ran through it, but Ironwood had _let them die!_ His inaction, his unwillingness to speak out allowed Stone to get away with it.

And now here he was, General Ironwood. Headmaster, leader of the Atlas Military. He had stepped into Stones shoes, Jaune wasn't sure if that made him any different to the man.

However, Jaune didn't want to kill him. He wanted Ironwood to live…so he would be there when Atlas and the other Kingdoms burned. He wanted Ironwood to be there, to watch hopelessly as his life and everything he built fell around him.

General James Ironwood would live…but that didn't mean he wasn't going to hurt him.

With barely a though Jaune flicker back into the real wold, standing over the General and tossed the gun in his hand away before bending down so he was closer to the man and spoke in a ruff whisper to disguise his voice. "I remember you…that day…when you stood in the ruins of my home…and you questioned Stone of his motive…" He said.

He felt Ironwoods fear spike again and breathed it in deeply, a deep breath through his nose before letting out a sigh.

Then without warning he stood and slammed his foot into Ironwoods right shoulder, crushing it. the man let out a wheezing groan, unable to scream anymore. Jaune continued to grind his foot as the bones slowly turned to power inside his skin. "You didn't even question your order's until it was too late…you left us to die, left my family to die because you didn't question an order you knew was wrong." Jaune continued as if nothing odd was happening.

When he finally took his foot away Ironwoods shoulder was covered in blood and badly misshapen. The rest of his arm was completely limp at his side.

"Did you think I would let you get away with it? That I would forget…disappear? I'm not going anywhere _General_ , and I want you to know that everything that happens from here on is because of you. Because you didn't question orders, because you didn't even try…because you let my family die…" Jaune just stared down at the man passively.

Jaune heard shouting from out in the hallway, hurried footsteps as armoured feet hit the ground. With one last look at Ironwoods face, at his terrified, bloodshot eyes, Jaune Flickered Out and disappeared just was armoured Atlas Soldiers came running into the room.

He didn't even bother to watch as they lifted Ironwood onto a stretcher, or as the white-haired woman regained consciousness. He just walked through the soldiers as they hurried around like, passing through them like they were the ghosts as he made his way out of the secrete compound and towards the meet up point he would find Cinder and Emerald.

0o0

 **Cinder**

0o0

Emerald had excused herself to go take a bath and left Cinder to her observation of the now in chaos compound, stating she had three days of dirt from sleeping outside to wash off. Cinder hadn't even bothered to acknowledge her and continued to watch as soldiers ran in and out of the hidden base like headless chickens.

The only warning she had that he arrived was a slight chill in the air, and then their he was just standing right in front of her. While on the outside she showed nothing of her surprise at him suddenly being without reaching distance of her, inside Cinder flinched slight and that bothered her. She didn't like showing signs of weakness, even inside her own head.

Cinder's eyes slowly moved up and down his form as Jaune just stood their and let her. There were spots of blood all over his cloths, but it was clearly not his down, too small and spread out mean it was the spray from someone else. He was also covered in grey concrete dust that was almost invisible when mixed with his already grey clothes.

However, the thing that stood out the most to her were his eyes. They were glowing brighter then she had ever seen them, full of so much power. Cinder felt a shiver run down her spine but didn't bother to think on it. She could feel the power rolling off him.

However, despite her thought on the outside her only reaction was a small, sultry smirk. "I see you were busy, I hope you had fun?" She asked absently.

Jaune didn't response for a moment, his glowing eyes locked on her own as he pulled his scarf down off his face. "Stone is dead…and Ironwood isn't much better." He finally replied.

He knew she knew he had run into Ironwood, Cinder's smirk only grew slightly, her arms crossing over her chest and her hand moved up, so she could rest her chin on it. "Really, I must admit I am curious as to the Generals current health…" She left the question in the air, though both knew it was an order.

If he was worried about her reaction Jaune didn't show it, turning away from her and moving to sit on the bed before speaking. "His right knee is shattered and the right side of his chest caved in. he was coughing up a lot of blood and struggling to breath, so I might have popped his lung or something. I also crushed his right shoulder to dust, so he'll probably lose the arm, not sure about the rest." He explained absently.

Cinder listened carefully to everything he said, and after thinking it over realised something didn't make sense. "He didn't use his Aura to negate your attacks?" She finally asked, moving to take seat across from the end of the bed so they were facing each other.

She wasn't expecting the chuckle that came from his lips at her question. "Oh, he did, it just didn't do him any good. Ironwood was pissing himself the moment he saw mem the man is terrified of me beyond reason. It gave me such a boost his Aura couldn't stand up to my strength." Jaune said.

Cinder narrowed her eyes at his explanation, seeing her chance to get more information about what he could do. "You mentioned something about feeding off of fear before, care to explain that a little more?" She asked politely.

Seeming not to care Jaune gave a small shrug and leaned back onto the bed. "It's like I said, I can feed off fear. I can…feel what someone is afraid of. Any fear will do, but fear of me gives me the biggest boost. It fills my Aura, my body. It makes me stronger, faster. The more fear the more powerful I become. It fades a little overtime but not completely." Jaune said.

Once again Cinder was forced to hide her true emotions. on the outside she gave a small nod, as if the information was trivial, but on the inside her mind was spinning at a hundred miles an hour. Jaune had just become her most valuable asset, all but eclipsing Emerald and her Semblance. If for nothing but his potential alone.

In one corner of her mind, deep down where she couldn't even notice it, a part of Cinder wondered if he could be even stronger then her. But the idea was pushed away before it could even take root. Only her mistress was stronger the Cinder.

0o0

 **Winter**

0o0

It had been three days since the attack. Three days since the brutal murder of the former General Stone. Three days since the current General Ironwood had been attacked and almost killed.

Winter sat with a frown on her face next to General Ironwood's bedside, reading over files while she waited for him to wake. The hospital room had been turned into a makeshift office for her to work, having been forced to take over a lot of the Generals responsibilities while he was unable.

A desk had been brought in for her to work at, already piled high with several stacks of paperwork. Every time she closed her eyes another stack would appear as if by magic, and every time she finished something two more piles would be dropped off.

She was a Specialist, his right-hand woman. It was her job to keep things running in his absence until he either recovered or was replaced. The fact she had only been in the job for little over two weeks meant nothing, it was protocol.

Luckily James had given her a crash course in her first week of everything vital she that would need to be take care of if something like this ever happened so while it wasn't easy Winter was just able to keep her head above water and not drown in paperwork.

The constant ' _beep…beep_ ' of the heart monitor hooked up to James was a little reassuring as she worked, reminding her that the General was still alive. The room had no windows, just four white concrete walls and cold tiled floor with a single door in or out. The hallway outside the door had a small platoon of soldiers standing guard, weapons drawn and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

Not that it would do much good if _he_ decided to come and finished what he had started.

Winter didn't know what to think of it all.

She had been horrified and sickened when Ironwood told her what had truly happened when the village of Draco had been Breached. The thought of an entire village of people being left to die when they could have been saved. Winter also couldn't help, no matter how hard she tried, but lose a little of the respect she had held for General Ironwood.

From a logical point she knew that he was following orders, as any soldier should do. Usually this would have been enough for her, Winter loved order and logic. However, from an emotional point she also knew it was wrong and that he had been wrong to listen to the order.

Winter understood why he had told her, it was a cautionary tale…for both her and the General himself. He wanted her not to blindly follow orders like he had, and for her to remind him not to become like former General Stone.

But then the cautionary tale had taken a turn and started to seem like a horror story. Winter would admit she had been sceptical. A little ghost boy appearing out of nowhere seemed more then a little farfetched. Even with the General's theory of it being a Semblance.

Like other Winter had heard talk of the Ghost of Draco. While not a well know rumour to the masses it was in the Atlas military, a ghost story soldier would tell while out on patrol to pass the time. But that was all it had been, a ghost story.

Until three days ago when she had come face to face with the ghost. More then that, she had passed _through_ the ghost!

The thought sent a shiver down her spine, the memory of falling through cold air with no resistance. The memory of that haunting sound, of that scream filling her ears and mind before she had fallen unconscious.

Luckily her Aura had been able to heal the damage to her eardrums and the blood vessels in her eyes. In the end she had walked away with barely a scratch.

James had not been so lucky.

His eyes and ears were healed by Aura like her own, it could do nothing for his other injuries. His right leg and arm were gone.

The bone of and around his knee had been turned to splinters, there was no way it could be healed and due to the bone slinters moving the doctors had been forced to remove his entire leg from the hip down. His Arm was much the same, only instead of splinters the bone had been ground to dust. The arm had been removed alone wile most of his shoulder blade. Then there was the right side of his chest. Put simple, there was nothing left. His ribs, and right lung had been removed, the damage was simple to extreme for them to even attempt to fix it.

Winter knew that under the bandages covering his chest was now a metal plate instead of skin and bone. A mechanical lung had replaced the half that was destroyed, and a new arm and leg were already under construction to replace the lost limps but would take several days.

Ironwood would be half machine by the time he recovered.

In the quiet of the room, over the steady beep of the heart monitor and in the back of her mind, Winter could still hear it. That sound, the scream. She wasn't sure she would ever stop hearing it.

0o0

 **I know this chapter was a little short, but this just seemed like the best place to stop it.**

 **So as I am sure people will have notice, Ironwood got his arse kicked and now will be getting the robot parts he had in the series I am sure everyone will remember. The reason Jaune was able to throw him around so easily is because Ironwood is absolute terrified of him. As in sit your pants terrified.**

 **And with him been so close Jaune took that fear and turned it into strength, making him strong enough to break through Ironwood's Aura like it wasn't there. If Ironwood wasn't so scared of Jaune it would have been a more even fight, at least until Jaune started flickering in and out.**

 **Jaune will not now be that strong all the time. The strength will fade, even if not completely. He will not be able to ignore everyone's Aura like he did here.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you thought of the chapter. I admit it didn't take me as long to write it as I thought it would :)**


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